Aeolipile

Aeolipile, steam turbine invented in the 1st century ad by Heron of Alexandria and described in his Pneumatica. The aeolipile was a hollow sphere mounted so that it could turn on a pair of hollow tubes that provided steam to the sphere from a cauldron. The steam escaped from the sphere from one or more bent tubes projecting from its equator, causing the sphere to revolve. The aeolipile is the first known device to transform steam into rotary motion. Like many other machines of the time that demonstrated basic mechanical principles, it was simply regarded as a curiosity or a toy and was not used for any practical purpose.

Aeolipile designed by Heron of Alexandria; it was used to power toys and to amuse visitors.

...invented a wealth of ingenious mechanical contrivances including pumps, wind and hydraulic organs, compressed-air engines, and screw-cutting machines. They also devised toys and automata such as the aeolipile, which may be regarded as the first successful steam turbine. Little practical use was found for these inventions, but the Alexandrian school marks an important transition from very simple...

The first device that can be classified as a reaction steam turbine is the aeolipile proposed by Hero of Alexandria, during the 1st century ce. In this device, steam was supplied through a hollow rotating shaft to a hollow rotating sphere. It then emerged through two opposing curved tubes, just as water issues from a rotating lawn sprinkler. The device was little more than a toy, since no...